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Kadaň (; ) is a town in
Chomutov District Chomutov District () is a district in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Chomutov. Administrative division Chomutov District is divided into two administrative districts of municipalities with extended ...
in the
Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region () is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. I ...
of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the banks of the
Ohře The Ohře (), also known in English and German as Eger (), is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Bavarian district of Upper Franconia in Germany, and through the Karlovy Vary Region ...
river. Kadaň is a tourist centre with highlights being the Franciscan Monastery and the historical square with late Gothic Town Hall Tower. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation.


Administrative division

Kadaň consists of ten municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Kadaň (16,478) *Brodce (20) *Kadaňská Jeseň (114) *Meziříčí (7) *Nová Víska (6) *Pokutice (39) *Prunéřov (252) *Tušimice (351) *Úhošťany (113) *Zásada u Kadaně (6)


Etymology

The name is most likely derived from the personal name Kadan, meaning "Kadan's (court)".


Geography

Kadaň is located about southwest of
Chomutov Chomutov (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as ...
and northeast of
Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...
. It lies on the border between the
Most Basin The Most Basin (also known as North Bohemian Basin; , ) is a structural basin and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is named after the city of Most. It forms the southwestern and central parts of the Ústí nad Labem Region. ...
and Doupov Mountains. The northern tip of the municipal territory extends into the
Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...
. The highest point is the hill Dubový vrch at above sea level, located on the southern border of the territory. A notable feature is also the
Úhošť Úhošť () is a hill and a national nature reserve in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It lies in the Doupov Mountains. The hill reaches the elevation of . It is also a place where might have occurred the Battle of Wogastisbu ...
hill, which is together with its surroundings protected as a national nature reserve. Kadaň is situated on the banks of the
Ohře The Ohře (), also known in English and German as Eger (), is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Bavarian district of Upper Franconia in Germany, and through the Karlovy Vary Region ...
river. On the Ohře, there is Kadaň Reservoir with an area of . It was completed in 1972. Its main purpose is to ensure a minimum flow under the reservoir, but it also serves for the energy use and for recreation and water sports.


Climate


History

In the Bronze Age, the plateau on the
Úhošť Úhošť () is a hill and a national nature reserve in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It lies in the Doupov Mountains. The hill reaches the elevation of . It is also a place where might have occurred the Battle of Wogastisbu ...
hill was inhabited, on which there was a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
hillfort. According to some theories, the Wogastisburg Castle stood here, which was the scene of the
Battle of Wogastisburg According to the contemporary ''Chronicle of Fredegar'', the Battle of Wogastisburg (also called the siege of Wogastisburg) took place between Slavs (''Sclav, cognomento Winidi'') under King Samo and Franks under King Dagobert I in 631 or 632. Th ...
between
Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...
and
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
in 631.


11th–18th centuries

The first written mention of Kadaň is from 1183. it was probably founded as a market settlement during the colonization of the area at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1186, Duke
Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...
donated the settlement to the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
. Around 1260, Kadaň was promoted to a free royal town and the castle was built. An extensive fire in 1362 destroyed the town and the castle, but everything was restored and supplemented with better fortifications. However, King Charles IV granted it several municipal rights (a vineyard, and an annual market) that made it flourish again. In 1421, during the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...
, the town was conquered by the
Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...
, who controlled it until the end of the wars. From the mid-15th century, the town was pledged to various creditors of the royal chamber. The most notable of them was the
Lobkowicz family The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is an important Bohemian noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest noble families of the region. Over the cent ...
, who held the town from 1469 to 1519.
Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz (, ; 1450–1517) was a Bohemian diplomat of the House of Lobkowicz. In 1482 he became a Doctor of Canon Law. He undertook diplomatic missions to Luxembourg (in 1477) and Rome (in 1487) in the time of King Vlad ...
founded the Franciscan Monastery and the Church of the
Fourteen Holy Helpers The Fourteen Holy Helpers (, ) are a group of saints venerated together by Catholics because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of ''Nothelfer'' ("helpers in need") orig ...
. In 1534, "Kadaň religious peace" was negotiated here between
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
Protestants and Emperor Ferdinand I for the Catholic side. After the
Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...
in 1620, violent re-Catholicization began in Kadaň. During the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, in 1631, 1635 and 1648, Kadaň suffered from fires and plundering by various armies. The Kadaň Castle remained a ruin until the second half of the 18th century, when it was rebuilt into barracks by Empress
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
.


19th–20th centuries

The last great fire damaged the town in 1811. After the
Revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
, the town became a district centre. The institute of the district town lasted in Kadaň for 110 years when it was affiliated with
Chomutov District Chomutov District () is a district in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Chomutov. Administrative division Chomutov District is divided into two administrative districts of municipalities with extended ...
. After
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
was established in 1918 and Kadaň became its part, most of the
Sudeten German German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitu ...
disagreed with this decision. On 4 March 1919, they demonstrated for
self determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
and joining Austria. The Czechoslovak military forces were sent in and tried to control the crowd by shooting. The result of the so-called Kadaň massacre was at least 25 dead and dozens injured. After the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...
in 1938, Kadaň was annexed by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and administered as part of
Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...
. The local Czechs were forced to move to central Czechoslovakia and the Jewish community was sent to concentration camps in Germany. The synagogue was burned down during the
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
of 9 November 1939. According to
Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees were a series of laws drafted by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II. They were issued by President Edvard Beneš fr ...
, after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the German population was expelled and the area was re-settled by Czechs.


Demographics


Economy

Although Kadaň is situated in an industrial part of the Czech Republic, there is no major industry within the town. Tourism and services play an important role in the town's economy. There are two large power plants in the outskirts of the town, Tušimice Power Station and
Prunéřov Power Station The Prunéřov Power Station (, EPRU) was the largest coal-fired power station in the Czech Republic with an installed capacity of 1,490 MW. Unit I (EPRU I, 4 x 110 MW) was shut down in June 2020, while recently modernized Unit II (EPRU II, ...
. The largest employers based in the town are the Kadaň Hospital,
Hunter Douglas Hunter Douglas N.V. is a Dutch multinational corporation. Its principal business is making window blinds and coverings. The company is publicly listed. The head office is in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and a management office in Lucerne, Switz ...
(a manufacturer of window coverings) and SD – Kolejová doprava (transporter of coal by rail).


Transport

Kadaň is served by four train stations and stops, located on the Kadaň–
Děčín Děčín (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the seventth largest municipality in the country by area. Děčín is an important traffic junction. Administrative division Děč ...
railway line.


Culture

The most popular annual cultural event in Kadaň is ''Císařský den'' ("Emperor's day"), which commemorates the arrival of Emperor Charles IV into the town in 1367 and 1374. The historically tuned festival is accompanied by a music and theatre program on stage, a show of crafts and period costumes, games for children and others. Other annual events held in the town include: * Maxipes Fík Birthday * Kirwitzer Day * Old Czech Carnival * Franciscan Summer * Vine Harvest Festival * ''Vysmáté léto'' – Summer Music Fest * Nativity Play * Passion of Christ Play


Religion

There are churches and chapels of four Christian denominations:
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
,
Czechoslovak Hussite Church The Czechoslovak Hussite Church (, ''CČSH'' or ''CČH''; ) is a Christian church that separated from the Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. Both the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and Moravian Church trace their tradition ...
,
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB; , ČCE) is the largest Czech Protestant church and the second-largest church in the Czech Republic after the Catholic Church. It was formed in 1918 in Czechoslovakia through the unification of th ...
and
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
.


Education

Kadaň is home to two secondary schools:
Gymnasium Kadaň Gymnasium Kadaň () is a Czech regional Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in the Ústí nad Labem Region of Kadaň. It is the oldest school in Kadaň and fifth oldest in Ústí nad Labem Region. The school was established in 1803 with 99 students and ...
, and Secondary Industrial School of Construction and Business Academy. The
Gymnasium Kadaň Gymnasium Kadaň () is a Czech regional Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in the Ústí nad Labem Region of Kadaň. It is the oldest school in Kadaň and fifth oldest in Ústí nad Labem Region. The school was established in 1803 with 99 students and ...
was established in 1803 with 99 students and continued under the control of the
Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...
until 1823. The seat of the old gymnasium was a former
Minorite The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contem ...
monastery in a building which is now the seat of the Regional Archive. The institute of gymnasium was then reestablished in 1872 in a new building. The gymnasium was closed again in 1951 and the new Industrial School moved to the building. It is still there today. A new gymnasium was established in 1968 and has remained on the same premises since 1978. There are four primary schools and a school for handicapped children, managed by the town.


Sport

The town is home to an ice hockey club
SK Kadaň SK may refer to: People * SK (actor) or Sivakarthikeyan, Indian actor * Salman Khan or SK, Indian actor * Shahram Kashani (SK), an Iranian-American singer * Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, known by the initialism SK * Søren Kierkegaard, Da ...
, which plays in the
1st Czech Republic Hockey League The Maxa liga is the second-highest level of professional ice hockey in the Czech Republic, after the Czech Extraliga, Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association. Until 2015, the league was known as t ...
(2nd tier).


Sights

The
Franciscan Monastery in Kadaň The Franciscan Monastery () lies on the edge of the town of Kadaň, Czech Republic and near the river Ohře. Its history dates back to the 15th century. It is now the seat of the Municipal Museum of Kadaň with an exposition of life in a monastery ...
with the Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers was founded in the 15th century by
Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz (, ; 1450–1517) was a Bohemian diplomat of the House of Lobkowicz. In 1482 he became a Doctor of Canon Law. He undertook diplomatic missions to Luxembourg (in 1477) and Rome (in 1487) in the time of King Vlad ...
, who is buried there. It is a national cultural monument with unique murals and rare cellar vault. It also includes gardens with a vineyard. Due to the uniqueness of world importance, an application was submitted for its inclusion in the list of UNESCO
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s. The monastery complex is a centre of cultural events and also serves as a museum. Kadaň Castle is a core of the preserved town fortifications, which surrounds the entire historic centre of the town. It was an early Gothic castle founded around 1260, rebuilt into late Gothic and Renaissance styles in the 16th century. It contains an exposition about its history. Another part of the fortification is the
barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...
of the original Žatec Gate, one of the four main town gates. It was built in 1458 and is one of the oldest defensive structures of its kind in Central Europe. Mírové Square and its surroundings form the historical centre. The town hall was built in the second half of the 14th century. After 1500, it was rebuilt in the late Gothic style. In the mid-18th century, Baroque modifications were made. The building still serves its original purpose and is one of the best preserved Gothic town halls in the
Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...
. Since 2024, it has been protected as a national cultural monument. One of the most known landmarks and symbols of the town is the Town Hall Tower. It was built in the 16th century and is the highest building in the town with . It is open to the public as a lookout tower. The town square also include the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Holy Trinity column and a Baroque fountain, which is called Šlikovský pond due to its size. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was founded in 1289. The originally Gothic church was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the second half of the 17th century. Its present appearance is the result of the reconstruction after the fire in 1811. From the square leads the narrowest lane in the Czech Republic, ''Katova ulička'' (meaning 'hangman's alley'). At its narrowest point, it is only wide. It is about long.


In literature

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...
set a part of his famous novel
Adolphe ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illici ...
(1816) in Kadaň, referring to it as ''Caden, petite ville de la Bohême''.


Notable people

*
Mikuláš of Kadaň Mikuláš of Kadaň () (born 1350, Kadaň – died 1419, Prague) was an Imperial clockmaker. With Jan Šindel, Mikuláš designed the oldest part of the Orloj (which also known as Prague Astronomical Clock). The clock was modified by Master H ...
(1350–1419), clockmaker * Peter Nigri (1434–1481 or 1484), theologian *
Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz (, ; 1450–1517) was a Bohemian diplomat of the House of Lobkowicz. In 1482 he became a Doctor of Canon Law. He undertook diplomatic missions to Luxembourg (in 1477) and Rome (in 1487) in the time of King Vlad ...
(1450–1517), traveller, diplomat and writer * Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer (1588–1626), astronomer * Josef von Löschner (1809–1888), Austrian physician * Anton Graf von Wolkenstein-Trostburg (1832–1913), Austro-Hungarian diplomat *
Theodor Innitzer Theodor Innitzer (25 December 1875 – 9 October 1955) was Archbishop of Vienna and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Early life Innitzer was born in Neugeschrei (Nové Zvolání), part of the town Weipert (Vejprty) in Bohemia, at that time ...
(1875–1955), cardinal,
Archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, ...
* Edward Goll (1884–1949), pianist and music teacher *
Hans Zeisel Hans Zeisel (September 1, 1905 – March 7, 1992) was an Austrian-American sociologist and legal scholar who taught at the University of Chicago Law School from 1953 to 1974. He was best known for using quantitative social science techniques ...
(1905–1992), German-American sociologist *
Karel Havlíček Karel Havlíček may refer to: * Karel Havlíček (artist) (1907–1988), Czech artist * Karel Havlíček (politician) (born 1969), Czech politician * Karel Havlíček Borovský (1821–1856), Czech author and journalist {{Hndis, Havlicek, Kar ...
(1907–1988), painter * Josef Dvořák (born 1942), actor *
Petr Klíma Petr Klíma (23 December 1964 – 4 May 2023) was a Czech professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and the Pittsburgh Penguins b ...
(born 1964), ice hockey player *
Ondřej Kaše Ondřej Kaše (born 8 November 1995) is a Czech professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with HC Litvínov of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He most recently played for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...
(born 1995), ice hockey player * Dominik Feri (born 1996), politician *
Aneta Lédlová Aneta Lédlová (born 31 December 1996) is a Czech ice hockey player for AIK IF and the Czech national team. She participated at the 2016, 2017 and 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship was an interna ...
(born 1996), ice hockey player


Twin towns – sister cities

Kadaň is twinned with: *
Aue-Bad Schlema Aue-Bad Schlema () is a town and a municipality in the Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It was created with effect from 1 January 2019 by the merger of the former municipalities of Aue and Bad Schlema. Twin towns – sister cities Aue-Bad ...
, Germany * Halle, Belgium * Vara, Sweden


References


External links

*
Official tourist portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kadan Populated places in Chomutov District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic